Revealed: Eric Holder quit because of his health on the orders of his doctor wife after hospital scare

  • Holder was rushed in an ambulance to a Washington, D.C. hospital in February after feeling faint and having a shortness of breath
  • A news report revealed Thursday that 'under pressure' from his wife, an obstetrician and gynecologist, Holder decided to leave his job
  • Holder wanted to make the jump before Republicans potentially take over the Senate and make it too difficult for the president to replace him

Attorney General Eric Holder's abrupt announcement that he intends to leave the Obama administration as soon as the president is able to find someone to take over for him was initiated by his doctor wife's concerns about his health, a news report revealed on Thursday.

Holder was rushed in an ambulance to a Washington, D.C. hospital in February after feeling faint and having a shortness of breath. 

Doctors gave the Justice Department official the OK to return to work, but soon after the incident, rumors began swirling that Holder could leave the Obama administration before the end of the year.

Politico Magazine reported on Thursday that 'under pressure' from his wife, Sharon Malone, an obstetrician and gynecologist, Holder decided to make the jump now before Republicans potentially take over the Senate in the Midterm elections and make it too difficult for the president to replace him.

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Attorney General Eric Holder told attendees of a voting rights event during the 2014 Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. today that he has 'no intention of letting up' during his final days in office

Attorney General Eric Holder told attendees of a voting rights event during the 2014 Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. today that he has 'no intention of letting up' during his final days in office

Holder kisses his wife, Sharon Malone, right, after announcing his resignation at the White House yesterday. A news report today claims that Malone, a doctor, pressured her husband to leave the Justice Department because she was worried about his health

Holder kisses his wife, Sharon Malone, right, after announcing his resignation at the White House yesterday. A news report today claims that Malone, a doctor, pressured her husband to leave the Justice Department because she was worried about his health

'It was a quit-now or never-quit moment,' a former administration official told Politico.

'You didn’t want confirmation hearings in 2015 if the Republicans control the Senate. So if he didn’t do it now, there was no way he could ever do it.' 

Sources who claim to be familiar with the attorney general’s thinking told the Washington Post said Holder had thought about leaving earlier in tenure, at the height of a gun-walking scandal in 2012 and again last summer, but he didn't want to exit on bad note.

Holder, one of only three original Obama administration secretaries, has seen no shortage of controversy in the six years he's served the president. 

From the Fast and Furious gun walking scandal that led to him being held in contempt by the House of Representatives to the Justice Department's crusade against Republican-passed voter identification laws, Holder, the fourth longest serving Attorney General in American history, has seen few periods of his tenure that were not marked by polarizing action.

A hero to progressives and the African-American community, President Barack Obama lauded Holder's work to advance civil rights at a tearful press conference on Thursday afternoon.

'Under his watch,' Obama said, 'the department has brought a record number of prosecutions for human trafficking, and for hate crimes – because no one in America should be afraid to walk down the street because of the color of their skin, the love in their heart, the faith they practice, or the disabilities that they live with.'

With years in his eyes, an emotional Holder took the podium on Thursday to say a few words about his six years on the job

With years in his eyes, an emotional Holder took the podium on Thursday to say a few words about his six years on the job

Obama and Holder share an embrace after delivering remarks on Holder's resignation in the State Dining Room of the White House on Thursday

Obama and Holder share an embrace after delivering remarks on Holder's resignation in the State Dining Room of the White House on Thursday

The first black attorney general has long been a thorn in conservative lawmaker's sides, however, they were vocal yesterday about their eagerness to see him go.

He has 'chosen to politicize his office,' and 'he's just simply not done his job well,' House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrel Issa told Fox News' Megyn Kelly last night.

Issa, who led the charge in the House to bring legal action against Holder, said he hoped the president would bring in a less divisive top cop.

'I think there's very little chance there'll be somebody similar that could be confirmed by the Senate for these last two years,' Issa said.

'Even if the Senate changes hands during the lame duck [session], they're not going to have a lightning rod like Eric Holder,' he predicted.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn shared a similar sentiment in a statement on Thursday.

'The nation deserves an attorney general whose loyalty to the justice system will trump loyalty to a political party, and I hope the president will nominate someone who will uphold the basic standards of honesty, transparency, and accountability that have been so glaringly absent in this Justice Department,' Cornyn.

Undeterred by statements from his detractors in the last 24 hours, a defiant Holder promised friends and allies on Friday that he would keep fighting for the ideals they hold dear until his final day in office.

At a Congressional Black Caucus event this morning Holder addressed the elephant in the room right off the bat and reminded attendees that his term as Attorney General 'has not ended.'

'OK? Let's just make that clear. It has not ended,' he said.

I woke up today and I was still the Attorney General of the United States,' he added, eliciting laughter from the crowd who had gathered at the early morning panel to wish him goodbye.

Noting that his time at Justice 'will draw to a close in the coming months,' Holder told his friends, 'I want you to know that my commitment to this work...will never waiver.'

'I have no intention of letting up, I have no intention of slowing down.'

Holder said he was confident that the advocates in the room and the U.S. attorneys across the nation would carry on the fight for for equality. 

'No matter what my path will be, no matter where I will be,' Holder said, he would continue to fight for equal justice. 

In a one-on-one with the Daily Beast today Holder said he’s 'not quite done thinking' about what his next move is, he suggested he will continue to work on criminal-justice reform, something Holder designated as his 'signature achievement' as head of the Justice Department.

'I’d like to continue being involved with issues that animated my time as attorney general—criminal-justice reform and civil rights especially,' Holder told the Daily Beast. 

'I don’t just want to give speeches; I’d like to involve myself in this work in a systematic way.'

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